From the place that brought us the pill camera comes a Google Earth-like view of the bladder.

Researchers at the University of Washington have developed software that combines a mosaic of images captured via an ultrathin scanning-fiber endoscope to form a 3-D image of the bladder. The endoscope, which resembles a piece of cooked spaghetti, scans the internal surface in a spiral trajectory using an automated bending tip. The software then stitches together the images to provide a 360˚ view of the organ.

From the press release:

… [O]ur software computes image alignment by mutual reconstruction of both endoscopic motion and bladder shape. This method—known in computer vision as ‘structure from motion’—has many uses in reconstructing complex scenes, such as virtual tourism and software that explores—in 3D—collections of overlapping photographs. We detected a set of consistent feature points from the bladder videos and matched pairs of overlapping video frames. We then performed a nonlinear least-squares-optimization method known as ‘bundle adjustment’ to yield the 3D point locations, camera positions and poses, and intrinsic camera properties needed for the reconstruction. Our software successfully generated 3D spherical mosaics comprised of several hundred images and several thousand 3D feature points with single-pixel accuracy. Additionally, we recovered intrinsic endoscope parameters such as lens distortion, thereby obviating any initial calibration.
 
In addition to providing a novel view of the bladder, the system has the potential to cut costs and save time. Because the endoscope is machine-controlled, it could allow the procedure to be performed by a nurse or technician rather than a urologist. The thin diameter of the endoscope (1.5 mm) can also make the procedure more comfortable for patients.

—Jamie Hartford